Three-day break comes at perfect time for Heat

The Miami Heat have three days off in between games for the first time this season. It's considered a rare break from the grinding NBA season.

So Bosh, naturally, looks at it more than just a chance to get up a couple shots in the practice gym.

"It's awesome," Bosh said. "My kids are very happy to see me and then when I come back [Thursday], they'll be like, 'Aw man, this is great. Two days in a row.' "

While much of the focus is on whether the Indiana Pacers have closed the gap, the Heat welcome a few days off before returning to the court. Working out a few kinks before Saturday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers remains the focus, but they also plan to take advantage of the rare down time.

The fact they are starting a five-game homestand makes them even more appreciative.

"It's good," Bosh said. "You can actually plan a couple things. I can actually go on a date with my wife. That'll be nice. Go on some play dates with my kids. That'll be nice."

The break and not having to deal with late-night flights and hotel stays for a couple weeks is somewhat of a consolation prize. The Heat played on the road on Thanksgiving and will do the same when they face the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas.

"We've got to make up for it since they decided to put us on the road for the holiday," guard Dwyane Wade joked. "They gave us a couple days here at home, which we appreciate. We're just going to try to do the best our days here on and off the court."

Added coach Erik Spoelstra: "We needed it. Hopefully we make the most of it. We don't have these types of opportunities very often."

This stretch also provides Spoelstra time to correct some of the issues that surfaced during the recent four-game road trip, which included two losses. The Heat were blown out by a Derrick Rose-less Chicago Bulls team in the opener and fell to the contending Pacers in the finale.

The Indiana loss drew more attention because the Pacers are considered the Heat's top threat in the Eastern Conference. The Heat were outplayed the final three quarters by the younger Pacers.

"We worked on some offensive fundamentals [Thursday]," Spoelstra said. "At the beginning of the Indiana game, I really liked our execution throughout most of the first half in terms of doing things with energy, pace, spacing was good, the ball movement was good. It crawled to a stop in the second half against a very good defensive team."

The next few days allow the Heat chance to return to "essentials." Spoelstra said the Pacers had success because they dictated how the game was played.

"That's the thing about competition," Spoelstra said. "They have a different style than us. They have a good defensive team. We have a specific style we play. They were able to corral us into their strengths, which kept us away from ours."

Last year the Heat were 16-6 at this stage on the way to winning a franchise-best 66 games and a second straight NBA title. The similarities end at the record, with players admitting some of the statistical numbers may be down from a year ago.

"We're a team that's been through all this before," Wade said. "I think last year we might have even started the season overall, maybe not record-wise, but numbers-wise worse than we did this year. You just try to continue hone in on your game a little bit."

Still, the Heat say they aren't revamping anything this week. It's just some fine-tuning before getting back on the court.

"We're not implementing a new system or anything of that nature," forward LeBron James said. "Just get better at what we've been doing and get ready for our next home game."